The incidence of drug abuse has been increasing at an alarming rate over the past decades. For examples, according to National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than 130 people in the United States die every day after overdosing on opioids. The misuse of and addiction to opioids—including prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl—is a serious national crisis that affects public health as well as social and economic welfare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the total “economic burden” of prescription opioid misuse alone in the United States is $78.5 billion a year, including the costs of healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal justice involvement. Further, opioids are not the only controlled substances that are prong to addiction and abuse. Many other controlled substances have also been found to be addictive.
According to a study and statistic, in 2018, more than 47 million doses of legally prescribed opioids were stolen, which is an increase of 126 percent from the year before. The study also found 34 percent of these incidents happened at hospitals or medical centers, followed by private practices, long-term care facilities and pharmacies. Only 77 percent of the cases identified a particular drug, but the most common was Oxycodone, followed by hydrocodone and fentanyl. As it can be seen, drug theft and diversion are some major causes for the drug abuse.
The U.S. Department of Justice's Drug Enforcement Administration has established recordkeeping requirements requiring registered practitioners to keep records of controlled substances that are dispensed to the patient, other than by prescribing or administering, in the lawful course of professional practice. While practitioners are required to maintain records related to controlled substances and the records must be available for inspection for a minimum of two years, there is no requirement requiring practitioners to conduct inventory count periodically. In many incidences, it may take a while for a hospital or practitioner to discover that certain controlled substances were stolen or missing especially when many inventory counts are done in batches.
Because the drug counts may not always be accurate due to lack of periodic checks, the medical personnel may not always have accurate records of available drugs. This can lead to problems in the event of major disaster or emergency when there is a shortage of certain medicines in a hospital and the hospital needs to get them from other sources. The inaccuracy in drug counts may cause delays to the process and the rescues.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved system and method for medication identification and inventory control. There also exists a need for an improved system and method for assisting fire stations, hospitals, pharmacies and EMS staffs to track narcotics and prevent diversion to help manage victims after a major disaster or emergency.